Winter tyres. Discuss.

[j2 lot]

[rossybee]

I got some hancook winters on the BMW today and it's ruined it. I have lots of grip. Where the 5 year old bald types had none and the car slid everywhere that was fun

On the fronts only, yeah?

[Scuffers]

put Dunlop winters on last year, not tried many winters, but on the S4 the Dunlops were way better than I expected, in real snow only limit was the cars ground clearance.

the ability to still be able to stop the car without the ABS going epileptic is the winner for me.

[JohnStewart]

I've just re-fitted my Michelin PA2 winter tyres. This will be their 9th and final winter, as tread now down to 3.5mm on two of them and 4mm on the other two. Reckon they have done close to 26k miles and have been the best money I've ever spent on tyres. 90% of the time between November and March there won't be much difference between them and normal "summer" tyres, but the difference on snow and ice is staggering, especially under braking.

[alicrozier]

Agreed.

The difference with summer tyres between premium and budget is huge, especially their wet performance.

With winters, the gap is far far smaller

/sailun ice blazer faction

I agree that pretty much 'any' winters will be better than summers in the snow and suppose snow and ice performance may be closer between budget and premium winters.

The problem I had is budget winters can ruin the handling in dry and wet conditions. Having driven the Dunlop 4D's the wet performance is awesome and in the dry they are amazingly close to the standard summer tyres (some of the difference must also be down to the difference in wheel size and profile). As another subjective measure Nicola (who is pretty perceptive) drove them in the dry and couldn't discern a difference from the summers.

On the average runabout fair enough but any car you've chosen for it's handling performance I think it's crazy to skimp on the winters.

Last night I drove my bro's new M3 on Nankangs, they are also the same width front and rear!
It was fun but sh*t. He drives it like a 320 in the winter (and freely admits that)...just aswell because it also looks like a 320 on those rims.

[alicrozier]

Went for Dunlop SP WINTER SPORT 4D...a bit more expensive than some but top rated for size and performance application.
(£718 fitted from mytyres).

Ali I have these on my Audi, they are pretty good you won't be disappointed, but I have found the ContiWinter Contact T830P are a better tyre in all areas. I have the Contis on my Europa and on my brothers Elise.

I hope so, will post my review when they are on.

I guess looking from the online reviews it's important to consider the application, some brands are better than others in different sizes/profiles.
For the specific tyre size the Dunlops are supposedly better than the Conti's in the wet and much better in snow.
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Dunlo ... ort-4D.htm

I'd expect both to be very good though and miles better than you're budget Nankangs etc.

Winters on (only clean bit on the car)...

IMG-20121109-00194 by alicrozier, on Flickr

IMG-20121109-00195 by alicrozier, on Flickr

[rossybee]

Got mine fitted today at Hectyre

Moira mentioned she had a microlight wheel in getting a new tyre - wouldn't be our Jim?

[Dark]

Winter tyres went on the Legacy last week.
Went for budget Nankangs at £75 each, most of the premium brands were twice the price! Have used Nankangs on the wife's Impreza for the last three years without any problems and these seem fine so far too.
Maybe if I still had the 350bhp Impreza STI I might have spent a bit more money but I don't so I haven't!

According to some of the weather forecasts it's going to get very chilly in the next week or two.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/358 ... ars-on-way

PS: I don't normally read the Express; at least it's not the Mail!

[Sanjøy]

Winter tyres went on the Legacy last week.
Went for budget Nankangs at £75 each, most of the premium brands were twice the price! Have used Nankangs on the wife's Impreza for the last three years without any problems and these seem fine so far too.
Maybe if I still had the 350bhp Impreza STI I might have spent a bit more money but I don't so I haven't!

According to some of the weather forecasts it's going to get very chilly in the next week or two.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/358 ... ars-on-way

PS: I don't normally read the Express; at least it's not the Mail!

Windy is the resident SE forecaster

https://twitter.com/WindyWilson88
https://www.facebook.com/windywilson.weather.roads

[Peter76]

Morning all! Had no option but to use the BMW today. Got stuck only briefly at the top of my road, but think that winter tyres might be a good idea. All the main roads were fine, but I remember my old beemer was totally useless in the snow and this one doesn't seem to be much better. An old colleague mentioned a couple of years ago that winter tyres made a huge difference to his BMW, but he seemed so enthusiastic about it I got the impression he was exaggerating. Would I be being a pikey if I only put winters on the rear? Alternatively, I've seen these on eBay....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16-BMW-Steel- ... 53ef13a747

Car is currently running with run-flats. 225/40 R18 front and 225/35 R18 rear. It'll be ok to stick 16"s on won't it?

Apologies if this was covered earlier in the thread, it's 39 pages long!!

[flyingscot68]

Peter76 - I wouldn't recommend only putting the winter tyres on the rear, means you'll end up with the front understeering terribly and not braking as well as the rear.

That Ebay deal looks pretty good, as long as they're the correct fitment for your car - should be in the handbook.

My winter tyres paid for themselves again this morning. I live at the bottom of a fairly steep hill. Had to drive around all the neighbours who were stuck half way up the hill. My little A2 just sailed on past, even got going again without wheelspin when I had to stop.

Winter tyres make a huge difference in the snow.

[rossybee]

Even though I had them last year, today was the first time I saw the real benefit. Light dusting of snow was no problem for the previously crap FWD Volvo on 18s, even when climbing a reasonable slope into a carpark to walk the dog this morning

Happy Mr. Bee

[neil]

Peter

Winter tyres are that good. Your colleague wasn't exaggerating! As has been said dont go for the pikey option of just the rears - you'll get going fine but steering and stopping will be a problem.

The car handbook should have recommended tyre sizes but from a quick look on mytyres it looks like 16" is correct for you - looks like they'll do the same as the ebay package for £490 delivered, plus you have the option of paying a bit more for a better tyre. Stick your car details into http://www.mytyres.co.uk/Steel_wheels.html and it'll come up with a load of options.

Neil

[Dominic]

Morning all! Had no option but to use the BMW today. Got stuck only briefly at the top of my road, but think that winter tyres might be a good idea. All the main roads were fine, but I remember my old beemer was totally useless in the snow and this one doesn't seem to be much better. An old colleague mentioned a couple of years ago that winter tyres made a huge difference to his BMW, but he seemed so enthusiastic about it I got the impression he was exaggerating. Would I be being a pikey if I only put winters on the rear? Alternatively, I've seen these on eBay....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16-BMW-Steel- ... 53ef13a747

Car is currently running with run-flats. 225/40 R18 front and 225/35 R18 rear. It'll be ok to stick 16"s on won't it?

Apologies if this was covered earlier in the thread, it's 39 pages long!!

Reminded me of this pic doing the rounds a couple of years ago

[graeme]

Well, it cured the understeer...